1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight unit and a display apparatus having the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a backlight unit having a point light source and a display apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, flat panel displays (“FPDs”), such as a liquid crystal display (“LCD”), has seen increasing market share because the FPD can be fabricated in a large size with a slim structure and a light weight. Since the LCD is a non-emissive display apparatus, an external light source, such as solar light or a backlight unit, is used to provide light for emission. In general, a backlight unit is disposed below a display apparatus to provide light to the display apparatus. The backlight unit may typically include a linear light source, such as a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (“CCFL”), a hot cathode fluorescent lamp (“HCFL”), or an external electrode florescent lamp (“EEFL”) to provide white light to a display panel. The light emitted from the linear light source is typically reflected through a light guide plate and selectively output through a top surface of the light guide plate, so that the light is provided to the display panel.
As light source technologies have developed, the linear light source has been replaced with a point light source, such as a light emitting diode (“LED”). The LED has several advantageous as compared with the linear light source in terms of long life span, low power consumption, high quality color reproduction and small size.
However, many point light sources are typically required to achieve uniform brightness over the whole area of the display panel so that power consumption is increased while generating undesirable heat, thereby causing degradation of display quality.